Netflix is closing the book on Sweet Magnolias after five seasons, while keeping key creative voices from the series in business with a new drama.
The streamer has canceled the romantic drama starring JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Brooke Elliott and Heather Headley. At the same time, Netflix has ordered Ladies of the House, a new series from Sweet Magnolias executive producer and showrunner Sheryl J. Anderson, with Swisher attached as an executive producer and eyed to star.
The development gives fans a bittersweet handoff: Sweet Magnolias will not receive a sixth season, but Anderson and Swisher are moving directly into another female-centered drama at Netflix.
A New Series Built Around Three Women
Ladies of the House is loosely based on Lauren Edmonson’s novel and, like Sweet Magnolias, places three women at the center of the story. Anderson, who adapted Sweet Magnolias from the novels by Sherryl Woods, will again serve as showrunner.
The new drama follows the wife and two adult daughters of a charismatic winery owner who dies unexpectedly. After his death, the women must work through their conflicts with one another while facing pressures involving the business, their extended family and the men in their lives. The series’ premise also emphasizes the role of friendship and wine as the women fight to hold on to the winery — and, more importantly, to one another.
Anderson will executive produce Ladies of the House alongside Swisher and Kate Gordon under their Rolling Clover banner, as well as Black Label Media.
Anderson said she is “thrilled to be embarking on this new adventure with JoAnna and Netflix.” She added, “When Jo shared the novel with me, I immediately saw the foundation for a series centered on three women grappling with the complexities of family, friendship, and romance — the kind of stories Jo and I most enjoy telling. I cannot wait to share the Richardson women and their world with Netflix’s global audience.”
Swisher, discussing why she wanted to adapt the book, described Ladies of the House as a project that immediately connected with her. “From the moment I read Lauren Edmondson’s Ladies of the House, I fell completely in love with Daisy, Cricket and Wallis: their relationships, their messiness, their strength, and most of all, their heart,” she said. “I am beyond excited to continue to tell meaningful, female-driven stories alongside the incredible Sheryl J. Anderson, and to bring this to life through our production company Rolling Clover and with our wonderful partners at Black Label. Netflix has been my creative home for the past seven years, and I couldn’t imagine a better place, or a better team, to tell this story.”
The project is described in the source material as a modern retelling of Sense and Sensibility.
Why Netflix Moved On From Sweet Magnolias
The cancellation follows the June 11 debut of Sweet Magnolias Season 5. Netflix took a wait-and-see approach after the season launched, drawing 2.8 million views in its opening week, down 30% from the premiere-week viewership for Season 4. The season then rose to 3.5 million views in its first full week before leaving the Top 10 after three weeks.
Netflix also did not commission a Season 6 writers room in advance, a step the streamer typically takes with established shows. The source material notes that Netflix bases renewal decisions on cost versus performance. Sweet Magnolias was produced on a modest budget, a factor tied to its five-season, 50-episode run with solid, though not blockbuster, viewership and a devoted fan following.
This time, however, Netflix also had Ladies of the House in play. The decision reportedly came down to whether to renew Sweet Magnolias for a sixth and final season or move forward with Anderson and Swisher’s new series. Netflix ultimately chose the latter.
The call was reportedly made at the last minute. According to the source material, Netflix allowed the options on the Sweet Magnolias cast to expire Thursday night, which was also when Ladies of the House was picked up. The cancellation of Sweet Magnolias followed Friday.
How the Series Leaves Fans
Sweet Magnolias debuted in 2020 and became part of Netflix’s slate of feel-good, comfort-food programming. Across its run, the series earned 100 million views and appeared in the Global Weekly Top 10 fourteen times across more than 60 countries.
The Season 5 finale did leave several cliffhangers, though the source material notes that it did not end with major shock twists. Instead, the final moments once again brought the title trio — played by Swisher, Elliott and Headley — together for a margarita toast.
Asked in June whether the closer had been designed to function as a possible series finale if Season 6 did not happen, Anderson said the writers aimed for both unresolved tension and emotional fulfillment.
“I actually think some of our cliffhangers are pretty big but, beyond the ritual of ending with a toast, we always strive to give our audience a balance between the tension of the open questions: Who’s leaving, Who’s coming back, Who’s staying together, all of those, with emotional satisfaction,” Anderson said. “I think maybe in some cases, the emotional satisfaction and the joy is greater than the open questions, but the open questions are certainly there, and we certainly have big thoughts about, if we are lucky enough to get another season, the stories that we will tell.”
After the cancellation news, the show’s writers posted a message to fans on the Sweet Magnolias Instagram page, accompanied by the Magnolias’ signature “pour it out” line.
“All grand adventures must eventually end. And here, dear friends, is where ours goes. Sweet Magnolias is now complete with five seasons streaming on Netflix,” the writers wrote, while also thanking the cast, crew, producers, Netflix and fans.
Swisher is repped by UTA and Untitled.